Six books to understand international affairs [reading list]

The world we live in is complex and ever-changing. This year India, Iran, the UK, and the US, to name a few countries, are facing pivotal elections, and many diplomatic relationships—in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and beyond—are at a turning point.

Check out these titles to better understand the state of geopolitics and the movement of power in the world.

1. The Unfinished Quest

In the last two years, India has achieved two significant milestones. In 2022 it became the fifth largest economy in the world, surpassing its former colonial ruler the United Kingdom, and in April of 2023, its population surpassed China, making it the single most populous country in the world with over 1.4 billion citizens. All five permanent members of the UN security council except China have openly acknowledged the need to include India among their ranks.

In The Unfinished Quest, T.V. Paul looks at the history and future of India’s great power bid. The book takes into consideration the entirety of India’s modern history from its independence in 1947 to the election of Nehru and beyond. Paul examines the techniques India has adopted to develop both hard and soft powers which have made it such an integral regional player in the context of the US-China rivalry. And finally, the book examines India’s persistently low human development indices—health, education, welfare, and lifespan of its people—which Paul argues is the nation’s final challenge to overcome to achieve true major power status.

Buy The Unfinished Quest by T.V. Paul

2. Upstart

Thirty-five years ago, the idea that China would ever challenge the US economically, globally, and militarily was almost laughable. Today China produces almost 50% of the world’s major industrial goods and it is the world’s largest producer of ships, high-speed trains, robots, computers, cellphones, tunnels, bridges, and highways. Last year the US government estimated that the Chinese military likely possesses 500 operational nuclear warheads and is on track to have over 1,000 by 2030. How was China able to build power in such a short period of time, and what informed the strategies that Beijing pursued to accomplish this level of growth?

Upstart presents a model for viewing China’s growth that will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with the business world. It lays out China’s “upstart approach” whereby China carefully and strategically chose areas of growth that wouldn’t trigger international backlash. It then pursued a gradual strategy emulating the US where possible, exploiting known weaknesses in the US development strategies, and pursuing entrepreneurial actions through innovation. This model for understanding China’s growth provides guidance on how the US can maintain their competitive edge in this new era of great power competition.

Buy Upstart by Oriana Skylar Mastro

3. Lost Decade

Across the political spectrum, there is wide agreement that Asia should stand at the center of US foreign policy. But this worldview, first represented in the Obama Administration’s 2011 “Pivot to Asia,” marks a dramatic departure from the entire history of American grand strategy. More than a decade on, we now have the perspective to evaluate it in depth.

In Lost Decade, Robert Blackwill and Richard Fontaine—two eminent figures in American foreign policy—take the long view. Lost Decade argues that for more than a decade, the United States tried, and failed, to focus its foreign policy on Asia. The authors argue that while the Pivot to Asia embraced seemingly straightforward strategic logic, it raised more questions than it answered. The book reviews in detail the attempted Pivot and illustrates that across the last few presidencies, policymakers have felt an increasing urgency to put Asia first, even as they deal with a raft of issues and crises in multiple regions. How they attempted to resolve such dilemmas, and how they allocated diplomatic, military, and economic resources, tells us a good deal about the proper conduct of US foreign policy and grand strategy over the coming decades.

Buy Lost Decade by Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine

4. Wars of Ambition

The battle to dominate the Middle East regional order, from 2003 to the present, resulted in an empowered Iran and a deeply unsettled broader region in which nominally pro-Western states began to recalibrate their relations with Washington as they welcomed its key rivals: Russia and China.

Afshon Ostovar—like many—believes that the Middle East is at a critical juncture right now. We are all witnessing yet another pivotal moment in the region’s history. In Wars of Ambition, Ostovar presents a recent history of the region and the myriad parties jockeying for power since the dawn of the 21st century. The book provides a gripping narrative of the conflicting visions for the future, deftly weaving in the aims and efforts of Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China, all in the larger context of the US’s declining influence and Iran’s rising power. It explores the evolution of the conflict between the US and Iran and shows how the ideological contest for the Middle East has become a microcosm of the larger geopolitical battle between those who support an American-led global order and those who stand in staunch opposition to it.

Buy Wars of Ambition by Afshon Ostovar

5. On Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping came to power in China in the spring of 2013, and in the ensuing 10 years we’ve seen a dramatic evolution in China’s stance towards the rest of the world and a corresponding shift in their domestic, economic, and foreign policies. Since China abolished term limits in 2018 and Xi is poised to rule the country indefinitely, a full understanding of his worldview and the long-term implications of it is critical for understanding our global future.

On Xi Jinping argues that Xi has adopted a more Marxist political and economic approach to government—a dramatic departure from the leaders that preceded him. Kevin Rudd—the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia—walks through how Xi has taken the Chinese Communist Party further to the left in a more statist direction. At the same time, however, Xi has taken Chinese nationalism to the far right which has shaped the nation’s much more hard-edged approach to foreign policy.

Buy On Xi Jinping by Kevin Rudd

6. Oceans Rise Empires Fall

It is the decisive decade for climate change action, yet great power competition is surging. Geo-economic rivalries and territorial conflicts over Ukraine and Taiwan appear more important than collective action against catastrophic climate change. Why do great powers seem to continuously favor competition and rivalry over transnational policies to address the greatest threat humanity has ever faced?

In Oceans Rise Empires Fall, Gerard Toal, one of the world’s leading scholars of geopolitics, identifies geopolitics as the culprit. Examining its meaning, history, and leading thinkers, he exposes the geo-ecological foundations of geopolitics and the struggles for living space that it expresses. Toal makes a startling argument about what the conflict between Russia and Ukraine means for the world’s hopes to arrest climate change. The book makes the powerful assertion that globally we will never be able to slow the catastrophic effects of global warming because the global competition for geopolitical power will always cause states to prioritize the access to carbon-based fuels that is required for economic growth and the security to compete with rival states.

Buy Oceans Rise Empires Fall by Gerard Toal

_{Featured image by Vladislav Klapin via Unsplash}